20/04/2024
Necropsy Vs Autopsy
What is the difference between a necropsy and an autopsy?
Let us look at the words themselves.
“Necro” refers to “dead” and “psy” to study, so necropsy is the “study of the dead.” “Auto” refers to “self” so autopsy is “self study.” So an autopsy is technically a necropsy, but because a “human is performing it on a human” it is an autopsy.
"Our job is improving the quality of life, not just delaying death."
Robin Williams
Performing necropsies is an important part of veterinary medicine. Frequently veterinarians are presented with animals that had “died suddenly” at home. Pets can be very sensitive to airborne toxins, poisons or other potential household hazards so they can sometimes die suddenly at home. However, some pets tend to hide their illnesses, so quite often they are near death or dead by the time an owner notices that there is a disease condition. Necropsies can help determine the cause of these ‘mysterious’ deaths.
It is of utmost importance to have a necropsy performed if the cause of death is uncertain or may have a possible infectious origin, especially if there are other animals (or people) who may have had contact with the deceased pet. In addition, the risk always exists for zoonotic diseases (diseases of animals that can be transmitted to people), which should be ruled out to protect your family.
If a veterinarian had an animal under their treatment for a disease condition die, it is good practice to recommend a necropsy if the cause of death is uncertain, as both the veterinarian and pet owner will benefit from the knowledge gained. A gross necropsy can be performed, where the tissues are visually examined and no samples are taken for further study. In certain cases the cause is obvious on gross necropsy so no further investigation is required.
Sometimes the cause of death may not be readily obvious on gross necropsy. In those cases, tissue samples may need to be collected and sent out for histopathologic evaluation by a veterinary pathologist.
Source: "Necropsies in Pets"
by Peter S. Sakas DVM, MS www.nilesanimalhospital.com
